9 Proven Ways to Improve Brain Function

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Your overall abilities can decline as you age. But why let this happen? You want your mind in the right place to live a healthy life and enjoy a great retirement. How can you do this? Well, you can try some methods known to improve brain function and keep conditions like dementia at bay. Looking after your general health comes into play and has a direct effect on your brain. But staying away from bad habits and even staying socially active are proven to work very well.

Take Specific Supplements

The world of supplements is vast, and it’s a huge market worth over $150 billion globally. And there are good reasons. You see, supplements help us get what we need for optimal health since sometimes certain nutrients can be hard to get with food. There are also treatments for conditions with positive side effects. For example, Semaglutide weight loss benefits are well documented. But it can also help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in your brain.

Improve Brain Function with Stimulation

Of course, the easiest way to help your brain over time is to keep it exercised and stimulated. There are limitless natural ways to improve brain function, from reading a newspaper to playing logic games. Word puzzles, math games like Sudoku, and even creative pursuits such as painting help keep you sharp. When you do these, you form connections between brain cells and build a reserve.

Better Diet and More Exercise

Diet and exercise can have dramatic results on your brain. This is because exercising helps build more blood vessels, which contribute more oxygen to the brain. And when your blood is rich in oxygen, your brain performs much better, with long-term results. Of course, it helps to eat a healthy diet full of oily fish, nuts, and seeds for Omega-3. If you have trouble learning recipes, then recent studies have shown the Mediterranean diet to be the most healthy in the world.

Quit Smoking, Drugs, and Drinking

On the flip side, you must stop doing things that are bad for you. And the most harmful things to your overall health, brain health, and heart health are smoking, doing drugs, and drinking alcohol. These send extremely toxic chemicals to your brain, which increase the chances of severe issues such as dementia, stroke, and heart disease. Heart disease severely restricts the amount of oxygen to your brain and essentially kills off blood vessels over a longer period.

Find Ways to Reduce Stress

Too much stress can have a terrible effect on your overall health. But stress can be pretty bad for your brain too. Increased anxiety impacts your ability to make rational decisions. Over time, imbalances can change your behavior and brain volume. So find time to de-stress the brain:

• Practice mindful breathing techniques to focus your mind and induce a state of calm.
• Your mind can become more relaxed and calmer by simply watching animals or fish.
• Try a quick exercise for five minutes to get a sudden rush of endorphins and serotonin.
• Listen to your favorite music or music designed to help with meditation.
• Spend time helping others for social connection and a feeling of accomplishment.
• Get outside as much as possible to lower hyperactivity and lower blood pressure.
• Engage in something creative to focus your mind, such as knitting or pottery.

Your mind can focus on the wrong things. And the best way to de-stress is to take the attention away from what is bothering you and use your time effectively. Everything listed above is easy to do and, in most cases, won’t even take up any time, with excellent benefits.

Use Head Protection Gear

It sounds obvious, but cover your head to protect your brain if you engage in physical activity. Sports and cycling come to mind immediately. If you do play a sport, even the smallest bump can have lasting damage. Rugby, football, and boxing athletes have a high proportion of degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson’s. Over time, concussions can build and escalate damage, making each knock to the head worse than the last one. So cover up.

Stay Socially Active

Coming out of the pandemic proved what many doctors already knew; that loneliness and isolation cause your brain to fail. Staying away from people increases anxiety, stress, and depression, none of which have a positive impact on your brain. And you can begin to expire because of this, which is why social acceptance is placed high on Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’. Local events and social groups offer support and friendship in times of great need.

Improve Brain Function with Lower Blood Pressure

Going through your life when younger with high blood pressure can have an effect on your brain when you are older. It has been linked to impaired cognitive function in older people, so try to look for ways to lower it while you can. It helps to stay at your optimal weight, reduce stress and look after your body through exercise and avoiding harmful habits such as smoking and drinking. These are lifestyle changes that can be hard but come with massive health benefits.

Play More Video Games

Recent studies have shown a direct link between playing video games and brain health. The reason is that the mental stimulation from video games (most of which are generally giant puzzles) helps promote gray matter. Gray matter helps transmit and process signals, and the more there is, the better your brain works. In turn, these improve body and brain functions such as fine and core motor skills and movement, improved memory, and emotional stability. 

Summary

You can improve brain function in numerous ways. Overall it comes down to staying healthy, but there are also other things you can do. These include taking supplements for minerals and vitamins, reducing stress by taking in nature, breathing well, and even listening to music. And finally, even playing video games has been proven effective for brain health. Video games stimulate the brain and help you with better movement, memory, and emotional control.